1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal unit provided with a customer approach notification function which is suitable for use as the POS for notification of the presence of a customer waiting to make a purchase when the operator is absent.
2. Background Art
Recently, POS (Point Of Sales) terminal units have become widely distributed, and the performances of the POS terminals have been remarkably improved, including convenient serviceability.
However, a problem is often encountered in how to notify a salesclerk of the shop that a customer is waiting for making a purchase when a salesclerk is absent. That is, in a small shop like a convenience store, where only a few salesclerk work, the sales clerk often leaves the POS terminal unit, when they are working at a display case or outside the store area (a storage space or the office in the back of the shop). In such a circumstance, when a customer wishes to settle the account, the customer must call the salesclerk by himself.
In the field of a cash transaction by ATM, usually a sensor such as an infrared sensor is provided near the terminal unit for sensing the presence of a human being in order to conduct an automatic transaction or to warn that a card or change has been left behind using voice or image by sensing approach or departure of a customer through the sensor, and in order to prevent crimes by using outside of regular business hours for customer's benefit and for monitoring the transactions.
However, in the POS terminal units provided in convenience stores, there is no way to provide notification of the presence of the customer waiting for making a purchase or to call the salesclerk's attention to the presence of a customer. This entails the customer waiting meaninglessly or calling the salesclerk, so that such a conventional POS unit causes a lowering of the service and allow burglary to occur in the extreme case.
The present invention is carried out to solve the above described problems. It is therefor objects of the present invention to provide a POS terminal units, which, when the operator is absent from the POS terminal unit, it is possible to notify the operator the presence of a customer waiting for the account by an warning sound, and, even when the operator is away from the POS terminal unit, it is also possible to prevent an obstrusive sound when a warning is unnecessary due to previously identifying the presence of the customer.